The claims
Each entry pairs a reported miracle with the documentary record and an honest, confidence-labeled estimate of how likely it is that no natural explanation accounts for it.
10 claims
4% authentic
Strong natural explanation
In the final book of City of God (c. 426 CE), Augustine of Hippo compiled approximately seventy attested miracle accounts from his own diocese, presenting them as evidence that miracles had not ceased with the apostolic age.
Unprovenhealing·Hippo Regius, North Africa; Carthage; Calama
Augustine's Catalogue of Miracles in City of God, Book 22
In the final book of City of God (c. 426 CE), Augustine of Hippo compiled approximately seventy attested miracle accounts from his own diocese, presenting them as evidence that miracles had not ceased with the apostolic age.
8% authentic
Strong natural explanation
The Venerable Bede, in his Prose Life of St. Cuthbert (c. 721 CE) and Ecclesiastical History (731 CE), catalogues dozens of miracles by the Northumbrian bishop including post-mortem healings from his incorrupt body.
Unprovenhealing·Lindisfarne, Northumbria, England
Bede's Account of the Miracles of St. Cuthbert
The Venerable Bede, in his Prose Life of St. Cuthbert (c. 721 CE) and Ecclesiastical History (731 CE), catalogues dozens of miracles by the Northumbrian bishop including post-mortem healings from his incorrupt body.
8% authentic
Strong natural explanation
Following cremation of Buddhist monks, small crystal or bead-like objects called sarira are frequently recovered from the ashes and venerated as signs of spiritual attainment — a phenomenon spanning multiple centuries and cultures.
Explainedrelics·East and Southeast Asia; historically India
Buddhist Sarira: Crystal Relics from Cremated Masters
Following cremation of Buddhist monks, small crystal or bead-like objects called sarira are frequently recovered from the ashes and venerated as signs of spiritual attainment — a phenomenon spanning multiple centuries and cultures.
1% authenticStrong natural explanation
Relics claimed to be the charred remains of Joan of Arc, held in a Chinon pharmacy bottle since 1867, were analyzed in 2009–2010 by a multidisciplinary forensic team and confirmed to be a mummified cat leg bone and a human rib dating to the 6th–3rd century BC — Egyptian mummy components, not Joan's remains.
Disprovenrelics·Chinon pharmacy, then museum display, France
Joan of Arc 'Relics' — Confirmed 20th-Century Forgery
Relics claimed to be the charred remains of Joan of Arc, held in a Chinon pharmacy bottle since 1867, were analyzed in 2009–2010 by a multidisciplinary forensic team and confirmed to be a mummified cat leg bone and a human rib dating to the 6th–3rd century BC — Egyptian mummy components, not Joan's remains.
5% authentic
Strong natural explanation
At the 1903 canonization of Seraphim of Sarov, attended by 200,000 including Tsar Nicholas II, numerous healings were reported at the translation of his relics — even though the pre-canonization commission had found the body was NOT incorrupt.
Unprovenrelics·Sarov Monastery, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia; relics now at Diveyevo Convent
St. Seraphim of Sarov — Healings at Canonization and the Question of Incorruptibility
At the 1903 canonization of Seraphim of Sarov, attended by 200,000 including Tsar Nicholas II, numerous healings were reported at the translation of his relics — even though the pre-canonization commission had found the body was NOT incorrupt.
7% authentic
Strong natural explanation
Augustine personally witnessed and documented the healing of Paulus, a Cappadocian man afflicted with convulsions, at the shrine of St. Stephen in Hippo c. 425 CE, and days later the healing of his sister Palladia at the same altar.
Explainedhealing·Hippo Regius, North Africa
The Healing of Paulus and Palladia at Hippo (Augustine, City of God 22.8)
Augustine personally witnessed and documented the healing of Paulus, a Cappadocian man afflicted with convulsions, at the shrine of St. Stephen in Hippo c. 425 CE, and days later the healing of his sister Palladia at the same altar.
3% authentic
Strong natural explanation
The body of Francis Xavier was declared incorrupt when returned to Goa in 1554, two years after his death, and remains on public display at the Basilica of Bom Jesus -- though the body has visibly deteriorated and lost limbs over centuries.
Explainedrelics·Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa, India
The Incorrupt Body of Francis Xavier in Goa
The body of Francis Xavier was declared incorrupt when returned to Goa in 1554, two years after his death, and remains on public display at the Basilica of Bom Jesus -- though the body has visibly deteriorated and lost limbs over centuries.
15% authentic
Strong natural explanation
The 16th-century Russian monastic founder's relics, seized by Soviet authorities in 1918, survived a Bolshevik examination that expected to expose fraud, and were returned to his monastery in 1998 after rediscovery in a Leningrad anatomical museum.
Explainedrelics·Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, Leningrad Oblast, Russia
The Incorrupt Relics of St. Alexander Svirsky — Soviet Examination and Return
The 16th-century Russian monastic founder's relics, seized by Soviet authorities in 1918, survived a Bolshevik examination that expected to expose fraud, and were returned to his monastery in 1998 after rediscovery in a Leningrad anatomical museum.
15% authentic
Strong natural explanation
Archbishop John Maximovitch (1896-1966), canonized in 1994, was found with largely incorrupt remains at a 1993 exhumation in San Francisco — his face, hands, and beard visibly preserved 27 years after death.
Explainedrelics·Holy Virgin Cathedral, San Francisco, California, USA
The Incorrupt Relics of St. John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco
Archbishop John Maximovitch (1896-1966), canonized in 1994, was found with largely incorrupt remains at a 1993 exhumation in San Francisco — his face, hands, and beard visibly preserved 27 years after death.
4% authentic
Strong natural explanation
The icon central to Pontic Greek Orthodox identity, attributed by tradition to St. Luke the Evangelist, was secretly buried by monks in 1923 at the time of the Lausanne population exchange and successfully recovered and transferred to Greece in 1931.
Unprovensigns·Originally Sumela Monastery, Trabzon, Turkey; now Nea Soumela Monastery, Veria (Veroia), Greece
The Panagia Soumela Icon — Exile, Concealment, and Recovery
The icon central to Pontic Greek Orthodox identity, attributed by tradition to St. Luke the Evangelist, was secretly buried by monks in 1923 at the time of the Lausanne population exchange and successfully recovered and transferred to Greece in 1931.